We'll post the latest scams here.
These examples may help you learn what an Inland Revenue scam looks like.
29 May 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- There are a lot of typos and grammatical errors.
- The website linked is not ours. We will only ever tell you to go ird.govt.nz
29 May 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- This did not come from a Te Tari Taake Inland Revenue phone number. We also do not contact you from Australia.
- The link does not go to our website ird.govt.nz
- We do not put refund amounts in emails.
29 May 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- This did not come from a Te Tari Taake Inland Revenue phone number.
- The link does not go to our website ird.govt.nz
15 May 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- It is not sent from our email address.
- We do not put refund amounts in emails.
- The email address linked is not ours. Do not click on the link.
20 April 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- We do not do incoming tax refund payments.
- We do not give direct hyperlinks to myIR in emails.
14 April 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- We do not do incoming tax refund payments.
- Our tax year is not from 12 March to 30 April.
- We do not use the term 'PS'.
- We do not ask you to verify your identity through your bank.
- We do not give direct hyperlinks to myIR in emails.
12 April 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- There is a link supposedly to claim your refund.
- We do not ask you to claim refunds.
- Our links will always end in govt.nz
24 March 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- We do not have an Instagram account.
- Department is spelled wrong.
- We will never direct message (DM) you.
20 January 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- it is not sent from our email address.
You should not click on any links in this email.
17 January 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- It is not sent from our email address.
- The link does not go to our website. Do not click on the link.
16 January 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- We do not give direct hyperlinks to myIR in emails. Instead, we’d ask you to log in to myIR through ird.govt.nz.
- The link does not go to our website. Do not click on the link.
16 January 2023
Details that show this is a scam:
- It is not sent from our email address.
- It does not have our logo.
- It does not say the refund is from us.
- We do not put refund amounts in emails.
- We do not say ‘NZD’.
- The hyperlink does not go to our website. Do not click on the link.
- The signoff at the end (‘The govt.nz Team’) is not us.
22 December 2022
Details that show this is a scam.
- It's not from an Inland Revenue email address.
- We do not put refund amounts in emails.
- We do not say 'NZD'.
- The contact details are wrong.
- There are grammar, spacing and punctuation mistakes.
- There's a hyperlink to a form at 'form.jotform.com' - this is not our website, and we do not give you direct links within emails.
16 November 2022
Details that show this is a scam:
- It's not from an Inland Revenue email address.
- We do not put refund amounts in emails.
- We do not say 'NZD'.
- The contact details are wrong.
- There are grammar, spacing and punctuation mistakes.
- There's a hyperlink to a form at 'form.jotform.com' - this is not our website, and we do not give you direct links within emails. Instead, we'd ask you to log in to myIR through our website ird.govt.nz
11 November 2022
We have seen an increase in scammers cold-calling business customers. The scammers pretend to be from real businesses and offer savings of up to 50% on tax bills (including small business loans). They may say they are offering discounts because they have vouchers which are about to expire.
The scammer pays the tax bill to us in full and the victim pays the discounted amount to the scammer. Meanwhile, the scammer cancels the payment to us, leaving the victims out of pocket and with a tax bill to pay.
The scammers are using several names including Discount Club/Wel Network/Wel Network Marketing. We will never contact businesses to offer ‘discounts’ on your tax debt. If you cannot pay your tax debt, get in touch with us to talk about your options.
17 October 2022
Details that show this is a scam:
- There's a link supposedly to confirm your return - we'd ask you to log in to myIR through ird.govt.nz
- We do not call ourselves 'New Zealand Taxation Office'.
- Our links will always end in govt.nz
- We will never ask you to make a payment to confirm your card number.
14 October 2022
Details that show this is a scam:
- It's not from an Inland Revenue email address.
- There's a link supposedly to myIR - we do not give direct links in emails. Instead, we'd ask you to log in to myIR through ird.govt.nz